Obama: ‘Take Our Time’ On Finalizing Health Care

Much like the stimulus plan, health care must pass now or there is a good chance the world will come to an end. Do you buy it? Does anybody buy it? We’ve all heard the story of the little boy who cried wolf: a little boys cries out ‘wolf’ several times (when there is no wolf) until finally, the wolf appears and the kid gets eaten-or something like that.

He said Thursday he wants to go through the legislation in detail with Republicans to examine their ideas and Democratic ideas to see whether there are better ways to improve the nation’s health care system than have already been proposed.

Obama said that letting some time pass before calling for a vote also will allow “everybody to get the real facts.”

The president spoke to donors and supporters of his political organization, Organizing for America, one of a handful of fundraisers he was headlining Thursday for Democrats.

Obama said it is most urgent to focus now on a jobs package, but that health care must be addressed afterward.

Hang on a minute, I thought health care reform was the most important issue facing our broken nation? And now it’s apparently, jobs. As much as we joke about the incompetence of Washington, couldn’t a fifth-grader tell us jobs and national security are the most important issues facing America? Sadly, the answer is yes, of course they could. Here come the wolves…

Let’s go back in time to late January and remember the words of our President’s warning. WonkRoom explains:

Well, the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action. Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on health care. Now is the time to deliver on health care. […]

But know this: I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it’s better politics to kill this plan than to improve it. (Applause.) I won’t stand by while the special interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are. If you misrepresent what’s in this plan, we will call you out. (Applause.) And I will not — and I will not accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now.

Everyone in this room knows what will happen if we do nothing. Our deficit will grow. More families will go bankrupt. More businesses will close. More Americans will lose their coverage when they are sick and need it the most. And more will die as a result. We know these things to be true. That is why we cannot fail. Because there are too many Americans counting on us to succeed — the ones who suffer silently, and the ones who shared their stories with us at town halls, in e-mails, and in letters.

Sounds to me like we do have a crisis on our hands, and it’s not health care-it’s trust.